If you’ve downloaded the latest Marvel’s Avengers update with plans to stream your epic battle against A.I.M. Scientist Supreme Monica Rappaccini, maybe wait until Square Enix fixes the issue that’s making players’ IP addresses float around the screen during gameplay. Update: The fix is in.
The main purpose of today’s Marvel’s Avengers update was to finally add a showdown between the Cosmic Cube-powered scientist Rappaccini and the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Exposing everyone’s IP address is an added bonus that’s surely delighting streamers everywhere. The IP address info shows up on-screen as soon as the game starts, along with your username and the current time and date, which is sort of handy. Even more fun, the information bounces around the screen at random, so it’s not like it can be covered up with a clever overlay.
Why is sharing your IP address with the world a bad thing?
Your IP address, or Internet Protocol address, is a unique number that identifies a device’s location on the internet. If someone gets a hold of your IP address they can, for one, use it to determine your approximate location, something that most Twitch game streamers try to avoid at all costs. The IP address can also be used to initiate cyber attacks against your devices or to misdirect authorities by making it look like illegal activity originated from your device. In other words, you don’t want your IP address showing up on-screen in a video game you might share screenshots or footage of online. It’s bad.
Developer Crystal Dynamics is aware of the issue and urged players not to stream until it is resolved. The “floating string of text” mentioned in the Tweet below is the IP address info, which they should probably say outright but chose not to.
And that, my friends, is the most interesting thing that’s happened in Marvel’s Avengers all year.
Update 1:46 p.m. Eastern: A fix is being tested and should be deployed tomorrow morning.
Update 6/23 11 a.m. Eastern: An update to the game went live this morning, removing the on-screen text.